Wonderful Weekend!

[fenchurch]

We had a fantastic time down in Oregon... while I wish tomte and gidgiddoni lived closer, it is nice having them only a five or so hour drive away now, instead of 14 hours away as they were previously. It's close enough to drive for a weekend visit (either direction) and Portland is very nearly in the middle, which makes it an ideal place to meet for spending the day. We had some very delicious Indian food -- they've found a restaurant that managed to score highly in three of my four favorites: mango lassi, mint chutney and saag paneer (I didn't have a chance to try the lamb vindaloo). And then we stayed up into the wee hours of the morning playing Minion Hunter and gabbing.

Oh! And the stop in Portland at Penzeys Spices? Definitely worth it. They carry a few spice blends that I've always wondered about, and it was wonderful to finally get a chance to smell them. I think we've finally managed to fully refill our spice cupboard after the great purge at the first of the year. Oh, yeah... and the staff at the store apparently thought we were amusing, being so excited about visiting one of their stores.

My throat is still a little sore from spending quite a bit of the past few days reading Anansi Boys out loud to Rackham while he drove (plus there was all the aforementioned late-night gabbing). I know I mentioned it before, but that book is so perfect for reading aloud... We got about halfway through, and now I suspect Rackham might just finish the last half himself before we head out on our next road trip around Thanksgiving-time, though I'm really hoping not. There's some great stuff still to come that I'm looking forward to reading to him.

We got home a bit after midnight last night, and I completely crashed (you know, after I checked my email) and failed my perceptiveness roll or something... because this morning my "alarm clock" (the full spectrum light I have hooked up to a lamp timer) came on at the same OLD time. Yuck. (It's definitely been reset now!)

It's been dark all day, making me even happier that I have that full spectrum light around (even if it did come on too early this morning). This is the time of year when the weathermen say things like "Well, it'll be sunny this morning, but then the clouds will move in... they should clear up again sometime in February." (Actually said by a local weatherman last week.) Technically, while we're likely to have a day or two of occasional sun, in all likelihood we won't have sunshine consistently again until July sometime... probably about a week after Independence Day. I love it here. (No sarcasm intended!)

I was looking up some stuff about Boonie Peppers this morning and ended up following a link to a place I assumed sold the dried peppers (for family recipes, I use the Chili Piquins that are sold at Penzys, though they aren't exactly the same). Nope. It's a nursery in New Jersey that sells live Boonie Pepper plants and will even ship them nationwide!!! Guess what I'll be trying to raise next spring!

Comments

[tomte.livejournal.com]

It was fun having you here.

And for a slightly exorbitant fee, you can get mint chutney delivered to your door on a regular basis. *capitalist aura*